


To keep control over pets

by Rogercat



Series: Ancalagon the cat [9]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Autumn, Blood and Injury, Cats, Conflict, F/M, Hunters & Hunting, Married Couple, dog attack, harvest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:01:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogercat/pseuds/Rogercat
Summary: Not all animals are easy to control
Relationships: Dior Eluchíl/Nimloth of Doriath
Series: Ancalagon the cat [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633960
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	To keep control over pets

As a cat, it could be expected that Ancalagon would not be that fond of dogs. But Huan, who had lived with several normal-lived cats when the House of Fëanor had lived both in Tirion and Formenos, seemed to be accepted. 

For now, at least.

“It is because Huan quickly learned that getting clawed on the nose is not very pleasant,” Celegorm explained as they saw the big hunting dog lay perfectly still so Ancalagon was not annoyed. 

“I am not fond of small dogs, not the ones that is fashionable among the nobility, at least. What use is a dog, if they can not make some form of work for the food? Their barking is annoying, they are more likely to be napping on the couch all day and what use is their size if they are not going to keep away garden pests like badgers?” 

Perhaps Dior and Nimloth was old-fashioned in what they viewed as useful and not useful, but that was because they never enjoyed life as the royal couple of Doriath. In that way they had bonded with Celegorm, who enjoyed the outdoors far more than the life of a prince. Granted, he was the third son and had six brothers, so he had a little easier to escape. 

“One thing that always annoys me, is how it often ends up being the servants who cares for those dogs. The actual owners have no control over the animals, or fails to see how important it is to keep them in check,” Celegorm muttered, taking another sandwich from the plate as well more tea to drink. He generally did not stay often as a guest here, but he always warned the married couple if there would be a larger group of hunters around their home. 

“There have been no accidents with such dogs around people laterly, I hope? I mean, dogs that is not trained risk to be uncontrollable in the long run and face euthanasia.”

Celegorm liked animals, but not to the point of defending uncontrollable dogs that risked to cause harm to others. He had learned that early, that not all animals were worth saving because he could not know how things would turn out in the long run. 

“Right, the group of hunters are going to be around for the next seven days, roughly. So you know about it.”

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Of course things did not remain calm. First of all, several of the hunters were young nobles, used to act as they pleased, and clearly far too young to recognize Dior and Nimloth as the rarely-seen former royals of Doriath. 

“Hey! Stay off our lands! It is our wheat field over there, ignorant brats!!” Nimloth yelled at seeing the arrogant youths ride over the field, grabbing a scythe to scare them away from now. If the wheat was ruined by too many horses tramping it down, food over the winter would be a problem. 

“Really, how are the nobles raising the kids nowadays when there is no danger to face and the need of being able to use weapons are only existing for those who wants to be part of the city guard or some other organization for keeping order?” 

“ **_MEOOOOOOWWW!!!_ ** ”

Suddenly Ancalagon sounded unusually scared, and for a good reason when his owners turned around to see the cat running past them. Five giant dogs, not the same breed as Huan but similar enough, was coming towards the field. 

“Hell no, that cat is not a prey for killing!” Dior screamed, unsheathing his sword while Nimloth once again proved her skills with a sling and small stones. When it was five such dogs against one alone cat, Ancalagon could hardly be blamed for feeling outnumbered. Even if they had not been in a battle since the Second Kinslaying, the past heir of Doriath and his wife had not neglected with the weapon training, for even if Valinor was a peaceful country you could never tell if past skills could be needed for self-defense. 

“Ow!” 

One of the dogs did bite Nimloth deeply into her forearm, and since she did not have arm protectors, blood revealed itself from the wounds. 

“Nimloth! Ah!”

It was only by quickly lifting his sword that prevented Dior from being grabbed in the arm too. But he was surrounded by three dogs, preventing him from helping Nimloth. 

“Master! Mistress!” 

Now their household arrived, armed with various household items that could serve as long-distance weapons against the attacking dogs. Since Nimloth and Dior had been attacked, Ancalagon up in a tall tree and unable to help for now, it was perfectly understandable that the servants made a silent agreement that the dogs was risking to become a public danger if they thought that it was alright to attack people. So by teaming up, the five dogs found themselves attacked back in a manner that was intended to kill. 

“Damned peasants!” 

The arrogant young nobles had shown up, and naturally thought them to be a household of common peasants ruining their fun. 

“Those dogs are worth far more than what you can ever afford to pay! If you injures them, you will face…”

Suddenly, there was several arrows shot from a distance, killing three of the dogs at once, including the one who had not let go of Nimloth. Then the remaining two was shot as well. 

“Who's there?! How dare you shot our hunting dogs!” one of the nobles called out to the woods. With a very displeased look on his face, Celegorm revealed himself. 

“Meow. Meow!” Ancalagon sounded from the tree just above Dior, where he tried to stop the bleeding on Nimloth. 

“By not keeping those dogs in control, you let them became a public danger by attacking innocents. I did tell you that this area was off-limits, and the Master of the Woods are not going to be pleased when I tells him about this.”

“Innocents?! Those peasants attacked the dogs without…” 

Right, this was why Celegorm disliked being around this group. They were known troublemakers in Tirion, and clearly had no idea who they just had sent the dogs on. 

“Ancalagon, teach those fools a lesson in the way you do best!” Nimloth screamed, partly out of pain from her injury, Dior worrying about the risk of infection because dog teeth was not exactly the most clean stuff. 

“ **_MEEEEEEOWW!_ ** ” 

Now when the dogs were dead and only the familiar Huan around, Ancalagon chose to punish the nobles by the way he did best, using his sharp teeth and claws to show why no one should attack his owners. The four young nobles was getting a lesson they desperately needed: that all actions had consequences. And since Huan prevented them from riding away, the black feline could jump between each one of the four with less trouble. 

“Oromë will ensure that you are getting compensation for the destroyed wheat and I shall let my grandfather know about this too,” Celegorm promised as he helped Dior clean the wound with some alcohol from his water skin and put a temporary bandage on it. If they only could get Nimloth to the house, she would get better first aid. 

“Anca, come here! We are going home!” 

Cutting off a wing from the dead bird hanging from Celegorm's saddle to use it as a bait, Dior got the cat's attention. 

“Anca, do as Dior requests! You are getting the whole bird as reward for helping out here!” Celegorm added in, speaking in cat language as he had been taught in his youth by Oromë. 

“Dior...as in  _ Dior Eluchil _ !? And his wife Nimloth of Doriath?!” 

Oh **_now_ ** it started to dawn on the young fools who they were? A good bit too late for any attempts of apologies. 

“Yes, and I am going to tell my grandfather about this!” Dior growled, his grey eyes taking a faint hint of silver as his anger over that his wife was injured became obvious. It was not often he kept in contract with Thingol and Melian those days, mainly because of a massive disagreement about the actions of his parents during the Quest for the Silmaril and its long-term consequences, but in this situation, Dior intended to use his royal lineage.

“Ooooh, both Thingol and my own grandfather Finwë together with the Lord of the Hunt?? No chance for you ignorant fools to escape then!” Celegorm grinned with a feral smile. Once Dior had a firm hold of the cat after that it jumped to his arms from the last rider and Celegorm tossed the bird on the ground to hold the promise of Ancalagon getting a reward, the Fëanorian chased after the terrified nobles, all showing some well-done claw marks on the faces.

“Bloody brats!” Nimloth swore again once it was quiet again. 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Of course, it did not stay quiet that the grandson of Elu Thingol and his wife had gotten attacked during the autumn hunt. Elrond visited out of the blue, mostly to check so Nimloth would really heal from the bite wound in a way that would not leave a scar, and their twin sons showed up to ensure that their parents were alright. Rumors said that Elwing had spoken a open complaint to the four noble families about how they had let their sons act. 

“Wow, what a nice sum as compensation for the reduced harvest and your injury, honey. We can afford some more books for the library and building that new guest house we spoke to make, with no trouble from this,” Dior commented when Celegorm had delivered three huge bags of money to them. 

“Or spare it to another time,” she smiled at him with a cup of tea raised, her arm healing nicely. 

  
  


But it was clear that from that day on, Ancalagon flat refused to let any other dogs than Huan come anywhere close to the house. Perhaps the cat felt offended by being chased up in a tree like that, and took out his anger on other dogs that quickly learned to stay far away when the cat was spotted. But neither Nimloth or Dior complained, animals that attacked people could become a danger and as far as Ancalagon cared, he ensured that his owners would not be attacked like that again under his watch. 


End file.
